S+B has won The Queens Award for Enterprise, International Trade 2016. To win this award it is necessary to show growth in export trade in three consecutive years and to demonstrate that this has been achieved through application of a strategy based on research and designed to create and realise new opportunities for UK goods and services in overseas markets.
Our research led us to conclude that we needed to find properly qualified local partners who can represent us in a professional manner, organise logistics, provide good quality technical support and after sales service. To that end we have established agent/distributors in the Republic of Ireland, UAE, Malta, Cyprus, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the USA. We have also been able to deal directly with end users in Algeria, Armenia, Czech Republic, Ghana, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, and Uganda.
The second important factor in our success was the recognition that there is little point in offering “me too” type products to these markets particularly when they can be sourced locally at lower prices. We had to invest in product development with high build quality, professional styling and differentiation in order to appeal to the discerning client base we have targeted. We will continue to seek out and develop new regional partners and to grow our overseas trade.